NITTANY LINES: A playoffs what-might-have-been

With a four-team playoff coming to college football in 2014, we decided to look back on two questions.

1). What would Penn State's playoff prospects have looked like?

2). What would the playoffs have looked like in the BCS era?

1. Penn State has had two national-title contenders since joining the Big Ten: in 1994 and 2005.

Here are potential playoff matchups for those seasons. The 1994 playoff is based on AP rankings prior to the bowls, since that was the primary component for determining a national champ at the time. The 2005 format is based on BCS rankings entering the bowls.

1994: 1. Nebraska vs. 4. Colorado; 2. Penn State vs. 3. Miami.

2005: 1. USC vs. 4. Ohio State; 2. Texas vs. 3. Penn State.

As you know, Nebraska was voted national champ in 1994.

In 2005, quarterback Vince Young led Texas to a 41-38 win over USC in the highest-rated BCS game of all time.

Vince Young vs. Michael Robinson. What a matchup that would have been. Instead, we got Robinson vs. Florida State's Drew Weatherford in the Orange Bowl.

2. Here are the playoff matchups since 1999, when the BCS began. We're using the final BCS rankings as a substitute for the forthcoming selection committee.

Notice that four conferences (SEC, Big 12, Big 10 and Pac-10) dominate these games. TCU is the only team from a non-qualifying conference to crack the system.

Kansas State would have been a benefactor in 1998. The Wildcats, ranked No. 1 entering the Big 12 title game, fell to fourth after losing to Texas A&M (in overtime). In a playoff system, Kansas State would have qualified. Under the bowl system, the Wildcats dropped to the Alamo Bowl, where they fell to Purdue.